Here is what Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Kentanji Brown Jackson and Chief Justice John Roberts said about TikTok's Chinese parent company.
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a new law that would lead to a ban of the social media platform TikTok, clearing the way for the widely popular app to shutter in the U.S. as soon as Sunday.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh brought up past examples of the U.S. blocking broadcasting companies from having ties to foreign governments and brought up the government’s concerns about TikTok collecting data on U.S. users, which he said “seems like a huge concern for the future of the country.”
The Supreme Court seemed to lean Thursday toward upholding a law forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell off TikTok, with all nine justices indicating national security concerns posed by the social media app outweighed potential threats to free speech.
The Supreme Court seemed likely to uphold a new law that could force TikTok to shut down in the U.S., with conservative and liberal justices alike expressing skepticism about the legal challenge.
At the Supreme Court argument, the justices homed in on one key question: Can Congress ban a speech platform to stop the Chinese government from manipulating it?
Here is what Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Kentanji Brown Jackson and Chief Justice John Roberts said about TikTok's Chinese parent company.
The Supreme Court appeared ready to uphold a law that will ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owners don't sell the widly popular platform.
The Supreme Court appeared to favor the government's national security claims over TikTok's 1st Amendment argument.
The case hinges on whether TikTok can convince Justices that such a mandate violates the First Amendment by forcing a foreign-controlled app to sell or shut down. As of Friday, they have not — and the Court has compelled Tik-Tok to be sold or shuttered this weekend.
"You're ignoring the major concern here" of China manipulating content through TikTok's industry-envied algorithm and harvesting user data, Chief Justice John Roberts tells TikTok lawyer, Trump's former solicitor general.
The federal law was the culmination of a yearslong saga over TikTok, which the government sees as a national security threat due to its connections in China.